Leaks, reservoir levels to blame for no water in parts of Benoni
The interruption in water supply is suspected to be due to a fault from Rand Water.
The Ekurhuleni Metro has dispatched roving water tankers to areas of Benoni once again affected by a mass water outage.
According to information received, low water pressure was reported to be affecting Rynfield, Benoni North, Brentwood Park, Northvilla, Northmead, Goedeburg, Farrarmere and Airfield on March 15.
“We received information that both the Vlakfontein and Benoni reservoirs’ water levels were critically low, but water was steadily pumped throughout the day,” said Ward 27 Clr Lornette Joseph.
“A leak was discovered at the Benoni reservoir and in order to be repaired, Rand Water had to switch off the pumps, which resulted in the taps running dry. On March 16, another leak was detected on the utility’s pipeline, further affecting Lakefield, Actonville, Wattville and Mackenzie Park.
“The leak was repaired at 09:00 and the valves were once again opened with water supply returning to normal in and around the CBD,” she said.
“However the reservoirs have not yet recovered. Vlakfontein is currently sitting on 17% while Benoni (in Northmead) is only at 8%.”
Ward 28’s Mary Goby explained that the metro’s reservoirs, which are currently critically low, cannot pump water to its customers if the water levels are below 20%.
“We have requested Rand Water to urgently investigate why the reservoirs supplied from its system are not filling to optimum levels.”
As a contingency measure roving water tankers have been dispatched to the affected areas with schools, clinics and old age homes taking preference.
At the time of publication, Rand Water had not yet responded to queries regarding the outage and the expected turn-around time.
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